Detained Iranian lawyer denounces mistreatment in prisonNasrin Sotoudeh, detained Iranian lawyer challenged the state in her trial by speaking out against being "mistreated" by prison officials. Reza Khandan, husband of Sotoudeh told the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran that his wife has told the court that the "greatest pressure" on her is being kept in solitary confinement. - 11/30/10

Wikileaks and IranI think part of this is a reflection of the fact that news media do tend to focus on those stories that tend to fit the bias of the political system in the United States and Europe with regard to Iran, the bias that suggests that indeed they are a threat, that you should assume the worst about Iranian intentions. -RNN - 11/30/10

Art Gallery: New Faces - IranJanet Rady Fine Art in association with Arte Sara are pleased to present the works of nine hugely talented, young Iranian artists. All previously nominated for the UN Habitat Prize in 2009, these artists are reunited in a tightly curated show which serves to illustrate the depth of artistic skill in Iran today. - 11/30/10

Video: Photo Series Inspired by Persian Poetry - PG13So strong is the Persian aptitude for versifying everyday expressions that one can encounter poetry in almost every classical work, whether from Persian literature, science, or metaphysics. -Majeed Beenteha - 11/30/10

Shahla Jahed to be hanged in Tehran tomorrow Shahla Jahed was charged with the murder of Laleh Saharkhizan, the wife of a well-known Iranian football player, eight years ago. She confessed to the murder 11 months after her arrest but in her trial, she claimed she was innocent. - 11/30/10

Iran's Northern Fishing Industry WanesPollution is contributing to falling catches in Iran's Caspian fishing industry, local fishermen say. They complain that restrictions preventing them from going out to sea mean they are unable to catch more than a tiny fraction of what their counterparts in other states around the sea achieve. -Farshid Alyan, IWPR - 11/30/10

EU: Iran Agrees to Talks on Nuclear Program The EU said Tuesday that Iran's top nuclear negotiator, Saeed Jalili, will meet with EU foreign affairs chief Catherine Aston on December 6 and 7. Ashton's office says she will act on behalf of the United States. Britain, France, China, Russia and Germany - 11/30/10

Photos: Earthquake Drill in Tabriz, Iran A big earthquake drill was held at the schools of the provincial city of Tabriz in northwestern Iran. Firefighters and special rescue units participated at this drill. -Mahsa Jamali, MNA - 11/30/10

Analysts Assess Fallout From Wikileaks Revelations in Middle EastA key theme running through secret U.S. documents released by WikiLeaks is that Arab and Gulf states have a profound mistrust, if not hostility, to the Islamic Republic of Iran. Observers have often alluded to such hostility, but the just-leaked diplomatic cables paint a level of animosity never before spelled out. -VOA - 11/30/10

Art Gallery: Contemporary Persian Calligraphy by Fereydoun OmidiFereydoun Omidi was born in 1967 in Roudbar Iran. He attended the Azad University and has been a member of the Iran Society of painters. Since 1995 he has held many exhibitions in Tehran but also a number of group exhibitions abroad including Japan, Venice and Paris. - 11/30/10

Bombs Target Iran Nuclear Scientists Five scientists, three of whom were high-ranking nuclear researchers, have been killed in Tehran since the highly contested 2009 presidential election. Another nuclear scientist, Sharham Amiri, defected to the U.S. and then defected back to Iran this July amid accusations of being a double agent for Tehran and Washington and hasn't been seen in public since his return. -Farnaz Fassihi, WSJ - 11/30/10

Wikileaks, Iran and WarThe latest Wikileaks information dump includes an enormous body of cable traffic dealing with the US and Iran. Most of it simply confirms what most people already believed: The US undertook its engagement strategy with Iran with the clear conviction that it would fail. At the same time, it was preparing (and disseminating in private) an alternative pressure strategy. This is the most serious indictment of all -Gary Sick - 11/30/10

One Iranian Scientist Killed, Another Injured In Bomb Attacks In Tehran A university professor was killed and another one wounded in two separate car explosions in Tehran on Monday morning. Both academics, identified as Majid Shahriari and Fereydoun Abbasi Davani, have been specialists in physics and the faculty members of Shahid Beheshti University in Tehran. - 11/29/10

FILM: THE GREEN WAVE Green is the color of hope. Green is the color of Islam. And Green was the symbol of recognition among the supporters of presidential candidate Mir-Hossein Mousavi, who became the symbolic figure of the Green Revolution in Iran last year. THE GREEN WAVE is a touching documentary-collage illustrating the dramatic events and telling about the feelings of the people behind this revolution. - 11/29/10

In the Iranian World, a Scholarly Guide to Everything You can't find an entry for Ehsan Yarshater in the Encyclopaedia Iranica - after all, the printed volumes have reached only up to K, and the online entries for letters farther down the alphabet are incomplete. Besides, at 90, Yarshater is very much alive, and the encyclopedia does not publish entries on living people. -Jeff Baron, America.gov - 11/29/10

Iranian Studies Initiative at University of Southern California Farhang Foundation and the University of Southern California (USC) have officially announced the launch of an Iranian Studies Initiative at the university. For the first time ever, USC will offer its students Persian language classes as part of their curriculum, beginning as early as Fall 2011; a Minor in Iranian Studies is in the works. This is the first of many. - 11/29/10

Video: Interview with Faezeh Rafsanjani AlAan TV exclusively interviewed Faezeh Hashemi who said that the Iranian authorities fabricated lies against her brother Mehdi and pressured prisoners to confess against him. - 11/29/10

Iranian Peoples Struggle for Freedom, The era of constitutional revolution (Mashroottiat)Towards the end of 19th century, colonialism was at its peak in the Middle East. The Russians and the English were competing on every peace of land, over any treaty of natural resources, manpower and anything else which could be plundered. Iran was practically divided into two halves. The northern part was under the influence of the Russians. -ABBAS SADEGHIAN - 11/29/10

Wiki-releases planned in advance: IranIran's President has questioned the recent leaked documents obtained and published by the Wikileaks website, saying the US administration "released" material intentionally. -Press TV - 11/29/10

Lebanese PM's Iran Visit Focuses on Hariri Assassination Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri met with top Iranian officials Sunday during a three day visit to Tehran in what the Arab press is billing as a fence-mending trip. The trip comes as a special U.N. tribunal prepares to release its findings into the 2005 assassination on his father, former Prime Minster Rafik Hariri. -VOA - 11/29/10

Emergency meeting held on Tehran's air pollution Tehran's air pollution has reached an alarming level and according to the World Bank statistics, it has incurred around $3.3 billion in financial losses in the current Iranian calendar year. In the meeting it was announced that the air pollution in Tehran will reach a critical level on Tuesday and Wednesday. - 11/28/10

The Green Wave screens in Berlin festival The Green Wave combines animation with films recorded by Iranian citizens on their cell phones during the street protests in order to visualize the events that followed the controversial re-election of Mahmoud Ahmadinejad in 2009 which protesters claim was fraudulent. - 11/28/10

Photos: Views of Pollution Struck Tehran Air pollution in Tehran remains at an alarming level, as air quality indicators persistently showed Tehran's pollution worsening on Saturday. Officials in Tehran cut working hours while a blanket of pollutants continued to shroud the skies of the capital. -photos by Mona Hoobehfekr, ISNA - 11/28/10

Iran's Supreme Leader Urges Stronger Navy The Leader of the Islamic Revolution underlines the necessity of using all human resources and existing potentials to build a better future for the Iranian Navy. - 11/28/10

Franklin Lamb : Can Israel Defeat Hezbollah In The Coming War?Hezbollah believes it has to win the next war for the sake of the whole country, because the army is poorly equipped and because Lebanon has hundreds, maybe thousands of Mossad agents in Lebanon compromising the country's institutions. -Veterans Today - 11/28/10

Iran: Release Ailing, 80-year-old Former Foreign Minister The International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran called for the immediate release for medical treatment of Ebrahim Yazdi, who has been in detention since 1 October, but has yet to be informed of the charges against him. - 11/27/10

Fars nomad women weaving their way out of poverty These days, nomad women in the Fars region tie knots on warps in an attempt to solve financial problems in their lives. They weave carpets to earn a living. While in the not too distant past, they used to weave carpets to flaunt their art and abilities. - 11/27/10

Iranian detainee stands by his allegations of torture Detained Iranian activist, Abdollah Momeni issued another letter announcing that his statements regarding torture in Iranian prisons are completely true despite recent denials by the spokesman for the judiciary. - 11/27/10

Iran's GDP at $411B; up $44B: Economist Economist's latest report indicates that Iranian GDP has increased more than $44 billion in the current year. ISNA cited the November report stating that GDP in Iran has gone up from $367 billion last year to nearly $411 billion in the current year. - 11/27/10

Lebanon's PM Visits Iran Amid Tribunal Probe Lebanese Prime Minister Saad Hariri is expected Saturday to seek Iran's help in preventing an escalation in tensions in Lebanon over a U.N. special tribunal probing the 2005 assassination of his father. -VOA - 11/27/10

UAE to 'continue' trade with Iran within UN rules The UAE is implementing United Nations sanctions against Iran, including barring some Iranian ships from its ports, banning some of its citizens from entering or transiting through the country, and empowering Emirati officials to inspect shipments travelling to or from Iran, the government has told the UN. - 11/27/10

Attempt To Hijack Iran Air Plane Fails The Islamic Revolution Guards Corps has issued a statement saying a man who tried to hijack an Iran Air passenger plane en route to Syria on Friday night had connections with counter-revolutionary groups. -MNA - 11/27/10

Iran says Gambia under US pressure Following Gambia's announcement that they have severed all ties with Iran, Alaeddin Boroujerdi, head of Iran's National Security and Foreign Policy Commission blamed US pressures for the Gambian reaction. -Zamaneh - 11/27/10

Giving Iranica a Better Presence on the Web Encyclopedias have been around for 2,000 years, but websites like the online Encyclopaedia Iranica are reinventing them. Instead of leafing at random through a bound volume of the encyclopedia for interesting articles, the reader can click on any of hundreds of featured entries that pop up randomly on the online version's home page... -Jeff Baron, America.gov - 11/26/10

Kronos Quartet Premieres Iranian Composer's 'Threnody' The Kronos Quartet kicked off its tour at San Francisco's Yerba Buena Arts Center, with the world premiere of Iranian composer Sahba Aminikia's mournful new piece, "Threnody for Those who Remain," which chronicles his father's death, as well as the Iranians' protest against last summer's contested presidential election. -Behnam Nateghi, VOA - 11/26/10

Suburban Chicago Muslim Center Denied Permit Mojtaba Noursalehi is originally from Iran, but is now a U.S. citizen. He's a member of the Board of the Irshad Learning Center. He says many members of the Center are of Iranian descent. -VOA - 11/26/10

Iran releases a number of political prisoners Following the announcement by the Islamic Republic authorities that 649 prisoners have received a pardon or a reduction in their sentences, 19 political prisoners were released today, most of whom were students. - 11/26/10

MS Awareness Movement To Benefit Iranians An affiliation of independent Multiple Sclerosis organizations, experts, healthcare groups and commercial corporations have come together to voice their concern about the rising number of people suffering from Multiple Sclerosis or 'MS' in Iran. The affiliation hopes to enhance the quality of life for all those affected by the disease. - 11/26/10

Belly Dancing Gets an American Twist "Belly Dancing Super Stars" is a professional belly dancing troupe that has been touring the world hoping to improve the perceptions of this ancient dance form and reinforce its relations with its region of origin. What's more, the group's creator has a background you probably would not expect. -Tala Hadavi, VOA - 11/26/10

Iran Dealt Losing Hand In Gambia Gambit As enemies go, it is hardly in the realm of the Great Satan. Yet the tiny West African republic of Gambia has just added its name to an exclusive club whose other members have more obvious reasons for enmity toward Tehran. -RFE - 11/26/10

Iran-Korea Nuclear Lies, Orders From Tel AvivFormer President George W. Bush planned to invade Iran in 2007, even though America's military was exhausted and overstretched by two unsuccessful wars. His own popularity, at a real 8%, was the reason, that and the economic collapse that he was trying to push back until he left office. -Gordon Duff, Veterans Today - 11/26/10

Iran in Kabaddi finals of Asian Games Iran beat Pakistan in kabaddi semis in 2010 Asian Games. The Iranian kabaddi squad has made it to the finals by defeating Pakistan at the 2010 Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. - 11/25/10

Iran snatches more medals in Asiad Iran has snatched three gold medals at the 2010 Asian Games, bringing its total gold medals to 19 and standing on the fourth place. - 11/25/10

IDFA awards Iran's "anonymous filmmakers" The International Documentary Film Festival Amsterdam (IDFA) has honored the "anonymous filmmakers" who recorded the images of the Iranian people's protests following the controversial presidential elections of 2009. -Zamaneh - 11/25/10

Iranian MPs want to question Ahmadinejad Ali Motahari, conservative member of Islamic Republic Parliament, announced that the MPs have collected the necessary signatures "to question the president." He added that over 50 representatives have signed the petition to "question a number of actions taken by the president" in the past year. -Zamaneh - 11/25/10

World Philosophy Day closes in Tehran World Philosophy Day ended in Tehran last night with comments from Iran's head of Judiciary on reviewing the content of human sciences and the issue of human rights. - 11/25/10

Iraq's PM Asked to Form New Government Iraqi President Jalal Talabani has officially asked Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki to form a new government, part of a deal to end an eight-month political stalemate. -VOA - 11/25/10

Iranians claim four more golds at Asian Games Zabiollah Poursheib claimed the gold medal in Men's +84kg of Karate. Sadegh Goudarzi bagged the gold medal in Men's Freestyle 74kg of Wrestling. Jamal Mirzaei also won the gold medal in 84kg. And Ehsan Haddadi won Iran's fourth gold medal on Wednesday. He claimed the gold medal of the Men's Discus Throw with 67.99 meters. - 11/24/10

Engaging With Iran: USIP and Stimson Center Experts Recommend a Recalibration of Efforts The U.S. Institute of Peace (USIP) and the Stimson Center announce the publication of "Engagement, Coercion, and Iran's Nuclear Challenge." This report is the culmination of recommendations from a distinguished group of more than 40 scholars and policy analysts, who met regularly during the past year to evaluate how the US should proceed in its strategy with the Islamic Republic of Iran. - 11/24/10

Iranian Art: Bridging the Modern and Contemporary In preparation for a major exhibition focusing on the development of modernism in Iran scheduled for 2013, Asia Society launched its multi-year study of modern art in Iran with "Bridging the Modern and Contemporary," a discussion by esteemed specialists in the field. - 11/24/10

NIAC Fellowship ProgramsNIAC is pleased to announce its sixth annual Public Service Fellowship and the first annual Sarafan-Ghorbani Fellowship. These fellowships are the first and only initiatives designed to grant Iranian-American students the opportunity to learn first-hand how the U.S. government works by interning on Capitol Hill. - 11/24/10

Iranian Composer Mehdi Hosseini's Pause at Sound Ways festival The 22nd Sound Ways New Music Festival opening concert will take place at St.-Petersburg State Philharmonia's Hall. In this opening concert a new work entitled "Pause" by Iranian composer Mehdi Hosseini will be performed by the Sound Ways ensemble, conducted by the American conductor B.E.Cawyer. - 11/24/10

Photos: Tehran Covered In Pollution; One-Day Holiday Declared Air pollution in the capital city Tehran has reached dangerously high levels exposing the residents to "polluted and unhealthy" weather. To alleviate the problem, the authorities have declared a one-day public holiday closing all government and private offices, schools and industries. -Amir Kholoosi, ISNA - 11/23/10

30 people indicted in connection with Tehran University attacks Iranian judiciary announced that they have summoned 30 people for involvement in Tehran University Dorm attacks. Ayatollah Sadegh Larijani, head of Iran's judiciary told reporters that they are handling the Tehran University Dorm attacks without any input from the security forces. -Zamaneh - 11/23/10

Maryam Hashemi's Paintings: The Journey of a Girl to Womanhood I spent hours looking at her works following her tireless strive to spit back the entrapped feelings of those years living under the iron law of veil and its harsh repressive influence on a growing up girl with flying imagination. -Roya Jahanbin - 11/23/10

Iran Sets February Trial Date for US Hikers The lawyer for three U.S. citizens facing espionage charges in Iran says a new trial date has been set for February 6, but the judge has refused to allow him to meet with his clients to prepare a defense. - 11/23/10

Photos: Saadabad Palace Complex in Tehran - IranThe Saadabad Palace is a palace built by the Pahlavi dynasty of Iran in the Shemiran area of Tehran. The complex was first inhabited by Qajar monarchs and royal family in the 19th century. After an expansion of the compounds, Reza Shah lived there in the 1920s. And his son, Mohammad Reza Pahlavi moved there in the 1970s. - 11/22/10

Documentary Film "Our Summer in Tehran": Pre-release screening in San Francicso American filmmaker Justine Shapiro took her young son Mateo to Tehran where they spent the summer with three Iranian families: a religious family with ties to the government; a cosmopolitan, secular family; and a single mom who is an actress. The result is a fascinating film that shows everyday life in Tehran, with stories and images unlike anything we are accustomed to seeing in the news media. - 11/22/10

Persian Thanks: Give Back to America! PAAIA has launched Persian Thanks to bring that great tradition to our fellow Americans. "We were looking for ways our community could embrace American culture, Persian style. Sharing Persian food with our fellow citizens on Thanksgiving, which is the most American of American holidays, seemed a natural choice," said Mahasti Afshar, Executive Director of PAAIA. - 11/22/10

In a New York Cafe, a Place for New Persian PoetryNew York - The traditional Persian evening of poetry, says poet and translator Richard Jeffrey Newman, involves old men reciting far older poems, the classics from Iran's literary past -Jeff Baron, America.gov - 11/22/10

Persian Greco-Roman wrestlers claim 2 more Asian golds Iran's Taleb Nematpour and Babak Ghorbani won the gold medals in the Men's Greco-Roman Wrestling at the 16th Asian Games on Monday. Also, Ghorbani in the 96kg category beat Asset Mambetov of Kazakhstan and won the title. - 11/22/10

Another Iranian journalist sentenced to jail term Zeinab Kazemkhah, Iranian literary reporter who formerly collaborated with the cultural and literary division of ISNA (Iranian Student News Agency), was sentenced to a five-year suspended jail term on top of four months in prison. - 11/22/10

When Sanctions are not enough: Iran's economy and the impatience of regime changersOn September 14, 2010, the chairman of Iran's Assembly of Experts, Akbar Hashemi Rafsanjani, stated: "We have to be vigilant about the sanctions and not denigrate them. At no time have we faced such severe sanctions." Rafsanjani's warning was translated in the US media as "these sanctions are no joke" and was construed as a rebuff to President Ahmadinejad's dismissal of the importance of the latest sanctions imposed on Iran. -Sasan Fayazmanesh - 11/22/10

Voice Piece for Green Soprano The Green Movement's mass protests were characterized by moments of joy and sadness, hope and horror. It was as if a people had been released and yet could not free themselves. They ran and could not move. They screamed but could not speak. They wished for a better future, but despaired. - 11/22/10

Caveman in search of meaning and Parapsychology In the last two segments of this article we covered the instinctual nature of human religiosity as well as the neuropsychological basis of human religious behavior. This segment is dedicated to the role of religion in man's search for meaning of life and parapsychology. -Abbas Sadeghian - 11/22/10

Iran is upholder of peace, brotherhood in Persian Gulf: FM The 20th international conference on the Persian Gulf entitled "Comprehensive Cooperation in the Persian Gulf: Mechanisms for Development and Regional Stability" opened on Monday in the port city of Bandar Abbas on the shores of the Persian Gulf. - 11/22/10

Iranian Opposition Struggles to Survive Pro-government parties in Iran are already maneuvering for the next parliamentary election due in early 2012, but it is unclear what part the shattered opposition groups will be able to play. -Sahar Namazikhah, IWPR - 11/22/10

U.S. Navy Provides Assistance to Iranian Sailors U.S. Navy sailors came to the assistance of two stranded Iranian mariners November 18 and provided them with care until they could be picked up by an Iranian coast guard vessel. -Stephen Kaufman, America.gov - 11/22/10

Baku Summit and New Policy of Iran in the Caspian Sea Iran is changing its policy about the legal regime of the Caspian Sea and it indicates that there is a new interpretation from the principle of equity in the division of the Caspian Sea. The new interpretation may be beyond 20 percent. -Bahman Aghai Diba - 11/21/10

World's youngest detained blogger on trial in northern Iran The world's youngest detained blogger, 18-year-old Navid Mohebbi, is currently being tried behind closed doors before a revolutionary court in the northern city of Amol. His lawyer is not being allowed to attend the trial, which began on 14 November. -RSF - 11/21/10

Persian Letters: Iran Inflation In Pictures The Aftabnews website has posted two pictures of pre-sliced, packaged mushrooms made in Iran to demonstrate "the meaning of inflation for those who don't understand it." -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 11/21/10

World Philosophy Day opens in Tehran UNESCO, the founder of the event, announced earlier that it will not take part in the events held in Tehran. They maintained that they had accepted a proposal from the Iranian Philosophy Institute to host the event two years ago, but had now decided that the "conditions necessary to guarantee the effective organization of a UN international conference have not been met" by Iran. - 11/21/10

Googoosh Music Academy, a Persian Talent ShowGoogoosh Music Academy is a new television series to discover unknown talents with the help and guidance of Googoosh. The idea of the show is not only for the audience to vote for their favorites, but also to teach these talents how to best reach their highest potential. - 11/20/10

Iran: Mousavi warns against renewed efforts to oppress protesters Iranian opposition leader Mir Hossein Mousavi warned Green supporters against "staged disturbances" by Iranian security forces with the approach of the National Student Day in December. Recently Tehran security forces set up a "manoeuvre" by staging a street carnival ridiculing the post-election protests of 2009. - 11/20/10

Iranian filmmaker denounces "monstrous" treatment by Iran's intelligence officersMohammad Nourizad - imprisoned writer, filmmaker and blogger - in an open letter addressed to the head of the judiciary while explaining a small part of the brutal and inhuman treatments of the agents and interrogators of the Ministry of Intelligence of the Islamic Republic against the political prisoners urged him to come to his senses and make his conscious the judge - 11/20/10

Iran volleyball team upsets China at Asian Games Iran volleyball team thrashed China at the 2010 Asian Games on Saturday. In a match which lasted one hour and 20 minutes in front of more than 2000 Chinese fans, Iran overpowered China 3-0 (25-17,25-19,27-25). -MNA - 11/20/10

Exclusive Report: Evidence of Iran Nuclear Weapons Program May Be FraudulentSince 2007, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) - with the support of the United States, Israel and European allies UK, France and Germany - has been demanding that Iran explain a set of purported internal documents portraying a covert Iranian military program of research and development of nuclear weapons. -truthout - 11/20/10

NATO Approves Europe Missile Defense PlanLeaders of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization have approved U.S. President Barack Obama's proposal for a new, expanded missile defense system for Europe. The agreement is a victory for the president, after a series of foreign policy setbacks. -VOA - 11/20/10

START Supporters Play Iran Card in Lame-Duck CongressOf all the arguments the Barack Obama administration is marshalling in support of a new Strategic Arms Reduction Treaty with Russia, the one that may have the greatest resonance with Republicans is over Iran. -Barbara Slavin, IPS - 11/20/10

UN Resolution on Iran's Human Rights Violations Approved by Huge Margin The Third Committee of the United Nations General Assembly's strong approval of a draft resolution, condemning Iran for grave human right violations, is a welcome step in the continuing effort to put a stoplight on the country's growing human rights crisis, said the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran today. - 11/19/10

Russian, Iranian Presidents Meet Amid Rift The presidents of Russia and Iran have met in the Azerbaijani capital, Baku, hoping to mend a breakdown in relations. Dmitry Medvedev of Russia and his Iranian counterpart, Mahmud Ahmadinejad, held bilateral talks on the sidelines of a summit of leaders of the five states littoral to the Caspian Sea. - 11/19/10

Pew Report: Is marriage becoming obsolete in the USA? Near 40% agreeThe Decline of Marriage and Rise of New Families -- Social institutions that have been around for thousands of years generally change slowly, when they change at all. But that's not the way things have been playing out with marriage and family since the middle of the 20th Century. - 11/19/10

Three Iranian Labor Activists Jailed Behrouz Nikoufard, Alireza Saeed, and Behrouz Molazadeh were convicted of showing disrespect to the supreme leader. It was not immediately clear what had given rise to the charge. - 11/19/10

'Great Game' Resurfaces in Afghanistan The Great Game is a term used for the strategic rivalry and conflict between the British Empire and the Russian Empire for supremacy in Central Asia. The classic Great Game period is generally regarded as running approximately from the Russo-Persian Treaty of 1813 to the Anglo-Russian Convention of 1907. - 11/19/10

Georgia Walks A Line Between Washington And Tehran Is it possible to have good relations with both Iran and the United States? This question came to the fore when Iranian Foreign Minister Manuchehr Mottaki visited Tbilisi earlier this month. -Ghia Nodia, RFE - 11/19/10

Exiled Iranian Lawyer Criticizes RegimeIranian lawyer Mohammad Mostafaei, who has been granted political asylum in Norway, has written to Iranian Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei criticizing the regime, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. - 11/19/10

Cartoons: Iranian woman cartoonist Firouzeh MozaffariAmongst those still in Iran, the number of professional women cartoonists in particular is few and far between. One of these exceptions is Firouzeh Mozaffari whose cartoons are frequently published in newspapers and magazines these days. Her work has been acclaimed both inside and outside Iran. - 11/18/10

Caspian Sea States Gather In Baku For Summit The heads of Azerbaijan, Russia, Iran, Kazakhstan, and perhaps Turkmenistan are to meet on November 18-20 to discuss the the territorial division of the Caspian Sea and the establishment of the Caspian Economic Cooperation Organization. -RFE - 11/18/10

Iran claims 4 more medals at Asian GamesIranian athletes have kept up their fine performance in China's southern city of Guangzhou where the 16th edition of the Asian Games, Asiad, is underway. Alireza Nassrazadany, 25, won the men's under 74 kg Taekwondo gold beating Dimitry Kim of Uzbakistan in the final while Yousef Karami, 27, beat Korea's Park Hyun-yong to bag the men's under 87 kg gold. - 11/18/10

Sister of Jailed Iranian Journalist Given Prison TermParvin Tajik was sentenced by Judge Mohammad Moghiseh in Tehran's revolutionary court no. 28 on November 16 for "disseminating propaganda against the Islamic republic regime" and "agitating public opinion." - 11/18/10

Top US, Israeli Military Leaders Meet Amid Iran Controversy The top U.S. and Israeli military officers met Wednesday amid some disagreement among senior leaders of the two countries on how best to pressure Iran to abandon its alleged nuclear weapons program. The Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Admiral Mike Mullen, hosted his Israeli counterpart, General Gabi Ashkenazi at the Pentagon. -VOA - 11/18/10

Iranian Cyber Army Hacks Website Of Farsi1 On November 17, a group calling itself the Iranian Cyber Army reportedly hacked the website of the popular satellite channel Farsi1. Iranian news websites have posted a screenshot of the hacked Farsi1 website, which includes a message posted by the Iranian Cyber Army. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 11/18/10

Iranian Restaurant Thrives in N. Carolina College TownHoma Jahannia's idea was unique. She is the owner of the Sage Vegetarian restaurant, which serves traditional, and non-traditional, Iranian foods in Chapel Hill, North Carolina. Jahannia said, "It's a vegetarian restaurant. No meat; no fish; no animals. Everyone said how risky it is. In the South. No one will come. -VOA - 11/18/10

Iran: Accused Film Director Jafar Panahi Delivers His Defense My house was raided on the night of March 1st, 2010 while my colleague Mr. Rasoulof and I were in the process of shooting what we intended to be a socially conscious art house film. The people, who identified themselves as agents of the Ministry of Intelligence, arrested us along with other crew members without presenting any warrants. - 11/17/10

Iranian President Removed As Central Bank Board Chairman The Iranian parliament has passed a law removing President Mahmud Ahmadinejad from the post of chairman of the General Assembly of Iran's Central Bank. The legislation passed on November 14 also divests Ahmadinejad of the authority to appoint the Central Bank's governor and deputy governor. -RFE - 11/17/10

Iran bags 11 medals at Asian Games Iranian athletes have won three more medals to take their tally to 11 at the 16th edition of the Asian Games in Guangzhou, China. - 11/17/10

Posters: Iranian graphic designer awarded at Mexican biennialIranian graphic designer Mohammad Jamshidi took third place at the International Poster Biennial of Mexico. He was selected for the third place for his poster "Fear and Mental Anguish" in Category A of the biennial which is dedicated to cultural posters. - 11/17/10

Call for Commemoration of Iranian Students' Day As the date of Iran's Students' Day approaches, universities across Iran remain at the forefront of resistance against the dictatorship and totalitarianism of the Islamic Republic and continue the struggle for freedom, justice and human rights. -Students 4 Iran - 11/17/10

Obama and Iran: From 2010 to 2012Returns of the recent US by-election have indicated relative turn in the American people's orientation toward the Republicans and their indignation at Obama's less-than-satisfactory performance. -Mahmoud Reza Golshanpazhooh - 11/17/10

The Name of the Caspian Sea Recently the Center for Researches of the Majles in Iran has proposed to form a commission and find a Farsi name for the Caspian Sea. This reminded me that almost ten years ago, I proposed to the Iranian officials, through several articles and also speech in the Caspian Sea Conference in Babolsar of Iran 2000, to use the name of Mazandaran Sea as the Farsi equivalent of the Caspian Sea. -Bahman Aghai Diba - 11/17/10

Iran: War Veteran Arrested After Meeting Opposition Leader Mohammad Ezlati Moghadam, Head of Mousavi's Isargaran (Veterans) Committee in the 2009 Election Campaign and a veteran of the Iran-Iraq war himself, was arrested last Wednesday November 10th by security officers after attending a meeting by a number of commanders of the Iran-Iraq war with Mir Hossein Mousavi. - 11/17/10

Persian Piano Music Eve in Cologne On November 20th, 2010 "Young Asia Festival" in the German city Cologne, will host a Persian Piano Music Eve. In the event, Europe-based pianists Pooyan Azadeh and Pejman Akbarzadeh will perform their interpretations from Persian music on the piano. The music critic Mahmoud Khoshnam will also deliver a lecture on the history of this instrument in Persian music. - 11/17/10

Iran emerging as major energy exporter Iran says its energy companies are working on dozens of projects overseas, highlighting the country's emergence as a major exporter of technology in the field. -Press TV - 11/17/10

China Seeks Global Sources of Raw Materials He said while China has become the world's leading exporter of capital with about $175 billion in deals completed over the past few years, it also has recorded about $130 billion in deals failed. Some of China's largest deals include oil in Nigeria, the Congo, Saudi Arabia, Brazil and Kazakhstan, natural gas in Iran, and iron ore in Australia. -VOA - 11/17/10

INTELLECTUAL FOLLY: HOW NOT TO ENGAGE IN DIPLOMACY In my opinion, President Obama wants nothing more than shaking the monkey of Israel off his back, so that his foreign policy with regard to the War on Terror and the Iranian issues could take a turn toward what would be in America's best interest. Under the prevailing conditions, Mr. Obama is powerless to assert himself as the "decider". The monkey on his back has the weight of the Congress behind it. -Kam Zarrabi - 11/16/10

Arrest of lawyers condemned by Iranian activistsInternational Committee of Lawyers for Human Rights issued a statement condemning the arrest of five Iranian lawyers in Tehran and calling for their release. The arrest of the five lawyers was confirmed yesterday by Tehran's Prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi. -Zamaneh - 11/16/10

Militarization of the World -- the Case of Iran A bully or a mafia godfather would never run out of excuses to punish an insubordinate soul in "his territory." Accordingly, U.S. imperialism has been very creative in invoking all kinds of excuses to punish Iran for its aspirations to national self-determination. -Ismael Hossein-zadeh - 11/16/10

From Russia Without Much Love The comments would have been blistering enough if they had been aimed at one of Iran's enemies. But the country President Mahmud Ahmadinejad was excoriating as Satan's sidekick was none other than Russia, long seen by the West as the Islamic republic's staunch champion and chief bodyguard. -Robert Tait, RFE - 11/16/10

Islamic Republic focuses on media violationsIn a press conference, Tehran Prosecutor, Abbas Jafari Dowlatabadi reported the establishment of a Culture and Media Court and commented on the question of allowing political prisoners out on bail. - 11/16/10

Clues Suggest Stuxnet Virus Was Built for Subtle Nuclear SabotageNew and important evidence found in the sophisticated "Stuxnet" malware targeting industrial control systems provides strong hints that the code was designed to sabotage nuclear plants, and that it employs a subtle sabotage strategy that involves briefly speeding up and slowing down physical machinery at a plant over a span of weeks. -Wired - 11/16/10

Iran's Entekhab buys Daewoo Electronics: reportsIran's Entekhab Industrial Group has signed a contract sealing its acquisition of South Korea's Daewoo Electronics for 518 million dollars, reports and officials said on Sunday. -AFP - 11/16/10

Muslim Pilgrims Ascend Mecca's Mount Arafat in Annual Hajj Ritua Meanwhile, Iranian TV showed hundreds of Iranian pilgrims, gathered at a campsite outside Mecca to shout slogans against the United States and Israel. The chanting has become part of an annual ritual which has caused friction with Saudi authorities in years past. -VOA - 11/16/10

In Iran, Trying to Make Sense of a Very Different DemocracyHooman Majd is trying to explain Iran to the United States, and he wishes someone would explain the United States to Iran. Majd, a Western-raised son of a pre-revolution Iranian diplomat, has spent years doing the journalistic equivalent of shuttle diplomacy, traveling between the two countries and ... -America.gov - 11/15/10

Iran in Asian football quarterfinal Iran will face Oman in the men's soccer in the Asian Games quarterfinal after defeating Malaysia 3-1, earning its fourth successive victory. - 11/15/10

A Mystical Journey to Freedom - Without a CamelI paused when I saw the title of Roya Movafegh's first book, The People With No Camel. The grammar, the possible meaning, and her choice of imagery made me wonder - and want more. -Homa Sabet Tavangar - 11/15/10

Xanax of the caveman: neuropsychology of unity of existence and prayersProbably the most intriguing aspect of human religiosity is mysticism, which can be seen in most religions in the world. However, the definition and the types of behaviors that we see in different cultures are somewhat different. One can postulate that the mysticism that is seen in Christianity, Islam, and Hinduism originated from Buddhism. -Abbas Sadeghian - 11/15/10

Iranian weightlifter wins silver Iran's Morteza Rezaeian has won the silver medal in the men's -69kg weightlifting in the second day of the Asian Games held in Guangzhou, China. - 11/15/10

Probable Causes of Alzheimer Disease, Or The Disease Of Forgetfulness In general it can be predicted that the greater the number of loss of 'bases' of identification in adult life, the greater would be the probability of 'catching' Alzheimer Disease. Of course, it is not only quantity, but also quality, that is the depth and intensity of the 'base' of identification which in the last analysis determines the fate. -Roya Monajem - 11/15/10

Qalibaf's Newspaper Issues Warning to Ahmadinejad: Do Not Challenge TehranisStrongly criticizing Mahmoud Ahmadinejad's remarks about the need for 3 million Tehrani residents to leave the capital, the principlist newspaper "Tehrane Emrouz" (Tehran Today) issued a warning to the chief executive not to treat the residents of Tehran in this manner. Ahmadinejad had made these remarks to a group of managers of the province of Tehran. -Mohammad Reza Yazdanpanah - 11/15/10

The Great Palace of VerseCompleted by the poet Ferdowsi in 1010 AD, the Shahnameh is widely regarded as a masterpiece of world literature. It is of central importance to Iranian culture and self identity, and has inspired some of the world's most exquisite manuscripts. Unlike many other national epics, it is still read by Persian speakers throughout the world in its original form. - 11/15/10

Want to Defuse the Iran Crisis?Sometime in the next few weeks, if the parties can agree on a place and date convenient to all sides, Iran and the permanent members of the U.N. Security Council plus Germany, known as the "P5+1," will meet for the first time since October 2009 to revive diplomacy over Iran's nuclear program. -Trita Parsi, Reza Marashi, FP - 11/15/10

Europe still vital in talks with Iran Amid severe funding cuts to Britain's defence budget and entrenched opposition to any new war, now is the time to stress the merits of diplomacy to forestall international conflict. As I write this, Israeli prime minister Binyamin Netanyahu is touring America to advocate military confrontation with Iran. -Arshin Adib-Moghaddam - 11/14/10

Photos: Tehran opens unique Javadieh BridgeTehran's new cable-stayed Javadieh Bridge has been inaugurated during a ceremony attended by the mayor of the Iranian capital Mohammad-Baqer Qalibaf. The heavy steel structure, which is called the new symbol of Tehran because of its unique construction, was inaugurated during a ceremony on November 10, 2010. - 11/14/10

Iran says $100 oil won't hurt global economy Oil prices of up to $100 per barrel would not hurt the global economy and might not create problems, Iran's representative to the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) said here on Sunday.' - 11/14/10

Asian Games: Iran wins three medals on 1st dayIran's women 10m Air Rifle team snatched silver in the 2010 Asian Games behind China. Wushu athlete Ehsan Peyghambari snatched the bronze in the Men's Changquan form. Also Mohammad Rodaki took bronze in the Asian Games Men's Over 100kg Judo competitions. - 11/13/10

PERSIAN LETTERS -- Khamenei, Ahmadinejad: It's Complicated One of the casualties of the 2009 Iranian presidential election was the seriously damaged legitimacy of the country's Supreme Leader Ayatollah Khamenei, resulting from his endorsement of the vote amid allegations of massive fraud. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 11/13/10

Iran: Rights Defender Dedicates Award to Women Activists Sussan Tahmasebi, recipient of the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism for 2010, dedicated her award to the imprisoned lawyer and human rights defender Nasrin Sotoudeh and other detained women activists on November 10, 2010. Human Rights Watch is presenting the award to Tahmasebi for her courageous work to promote civil society and women's rights in Iran. - 11/13/10

Basij Commander Sees Spiderman Engaged In "Soft War" With Iran Mohammad Reza Naghdi, the commander of Iran's Basij force has announced the creation of a new body called "The Organization of Basij and the Media," which he said aims at increasing the activities of the Basij force in the media scene. Naghdi, however denied that the Basij is aiming to control the media. - 11/13/10

The beauty queen activist dating Peter MacKayShe has rubbed her gorgeous elbows with political prisoners, royalty, the prime minister, the Dalai Lama and even a billionaire online gambling tycoon who boasts of staying a step ahead of the law. Now Nazanin Afshin-Jam, 31, is the new girlfriend of one of the most highly recognizable serial monogamists in the country. -The Star, Canada - 11/13/10

Photos: Saffron Farm in Mashhad, Iran These photos by Amin Khosroshahi show the life on a saffron farm in the vicinity of the city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran, from harvesting the flowers to extracting the stigmas. - 11/12/10

Iranian filmmaker defends himself in court Jafar Panahi, prominent Iranian filmmaker defended himself in court last Sunday saying the proceedings against him are an attack on Iran's arts and filmmaking community. -Zamaneh - 11/12/10

Photos: Vivid autumn in northwestern Iran The city of Tabriz in East Azerbaijan Province, northwest Iran, is also famous for the brilliance of its "fall foliage." During the few weeks in autumn when the leaves are at their peak, many tourists visit Tabriz and vicinity to enjoy the colorful nature. - 11/12/10

Iran Creating Fiction About Postelection Unrest, Neda's Death Iran has reportedly started producing a movie about the postelection events in which a well-known Iranian actress plays the role of Neda Agha Soltan, who was killed during last year's protests over the reelection of President Mahmud Ahmadinejad. - 11/12/10

Iraq's Leaders Back Fragile Power-Sharing Deal Iraq's president has asked Shi'ite incumbent Nouri al-Maliki to retain his position as prime minister and form a new government, but a dispute in parliament on a newly reached power-sharing deal prompted most of the Sunni-backed opposition to walk out, underscoring the agreement's fragility. -VOA - 11/12/10

Iran Fails To Win Seat On New UN Women's Board Iran has failed in a bid to secure a seat on the executive board of the new UN agency to improve women's rights. The Islamic republic's nomination to the 41-member executive board of UN Women sparked fierce protests from human rights advocates and Western nations over Iran's rights record, particularly toward women. -RFE - 11/11/10

Iranian reformist slams Ahmadinejad administration Iranian reformists, despite relentless government persecution, continue their resistance against the Ahmadinejad administration by criticizing the government in public statements and interviews. -Zamaneh - 11/11/10

Iran U-23 team advances to next round of Asian Games Iran Under-23 football team defeated Bahrain in the group stage of 16th Asian Games and booked a berth in the next stage of the competitions. In a match played at the Guangzhou University City Stadium, Iran beat Bahrain 1-0. - 11/11/10

Reports: Iraqi PM Maliki Set to Win Support for Second TermIraq's parliament is scheduled to meet Thursday to form a new government amid reports that Prime Minister Nouri al-Maliki will retain his position after winning support from his main challenger, the Sunni-backed Iraqiya coalition. - 11/11/10

Obama Extends U.S. Freeze On Iranian Assets "Because our relations with Iran have not yet returned to normal, and the process of implementing the January 19, 1981, agreements with Iran is still underway, the national emergency declared on November 14, 1979, must continue in effect beyond November 14, 2010." - 11/11/10

UNESCO pulls out of World Philosophy events in TehranUNESCO has disassociated itself from the World Philosophy Day events in Tehran saying "the conditions necessary to guarantee the effective organization of a U.N. international conference have not been met." -Zamaneh - 11/10/10

Googoosh, 'Rasa' TV, and the Green Movement Blogger "Iranian Life" believes the recently launched satellite TV channel "Rasa," which belongs to the opposition Green Movement and was recently written about on Radio Farda, is not likely to attract a large audience due to "weak" programming -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 11/10/10

Iranian Activist Honored for Rights Work Sussan Tahmasebi, a women's rights and civil society activist, will receive the Alison Des Forges Award for Extraordinary Activism in November 2010 for her work to promote civil society and women's rights in Iran. - 11/10/10

UK Rhum gas field shutting due to Iran sanctions-BP"BP continues to seek appropriate clarification from the UK government on certain aspects of the regulations and how they apply to the BP-operated Rhum field in the North Sea (in which the Iranian Oil Company Limited has a 50 percent interest)," the energy producer said. -Reuters - 11/10/10

Iran opposed to unilateral decisions on Caspian Sea: FM Foreign Minister Manouchehr Mottaki has stated that Iran is opposed to any unilateral decisions regarding the Caspian Sea which would not serve the interests of all littoral states. Mottaki made the remarks at the opening ceremony of the 27th meeting on the formulation of a convention on the Caspian Sea legal regime in Tehran on Tuesday. - 11/9/10

Iran Arrests Four Student Leaders Four prominent Iranian student activists were arrested over the weekend in a fresh crackdown targeting students. Iranian authorities have been tightening security ahead of a controversial government plan to phase out basic food and fuel subsidies. -Farnaz Fassihi, WSJ - 11/9/10

Iran to introduce wide-body plane in 2013 Iran's first wide-body plane will be introduced in 2013, the managing director of Iran Aviation Industries Organization (IAIO) said here on Tuesday. Manouchehr Manteqi added that in the first phase some $200 million will be invested in the project. - 11/9/10

Maradona mulls over coaching Iran football The former Argentina coach, who is currently visiting China, announced that he has had no meeting with the Iranian football officials, but in response to the question regarding would he be Iran coach, he just smiled. -MNA - 11/9/10

UN's Human Development Report 2010 - Iran Ranks 70 out of 169People are the real wealth of a nation. It is now almost universally accepted that a country's success or an individual's well-being cannot be evaluated by money alone. Income is of course crucial: without resources, any progress is difficult. - 11/8/10

The Seven-Year-Old Shoe Shiner Of Keshavarz Boulvard Saman Aghvami has captured these photos of a seven-year-old boy who has setup his small shoe-shining business on Keshavarz Boulvard in north Tehran. Judging from the photos, the "small" business owner seems very upbeat! - 11/8/10

Books Stuck in Iran's Censorship Quagmire Spare a thought for Iran's literary censors - unloved by writers and publishers alike, they have thousands of works to read through, so much so that the piles of books have spilled out from their rooms at the culture ministry into the corridors. -Omid Nikfarjam - 11/8/10

Iranian Students to Obama: Don't Forget 'Student Hostages' On the 31st anniversary of the hostage-taking of U.S. diplomats in Iran, a dozen of Iranian student activists and members of the country's largest reformist student group have called on U.S. President Barack Obama to follow up the case of current and former student activists who are in jail in Iran. In a letter to the U.S. president, the student activists call those in jail "student hostages." -RFE - 11/8/10

Photos: Autumn in Mashhad, Iran With the arrival of autumn, mother nature is busy with her paintbrush creating colorful masterpieces! Photographer Amin Khosroshahi has captured some of these beautiful works around the city of Mashhad in northeastern Iran. - 11/8/10

The Lights of the NightThe last time I found myself at zero point again for the fourth, fifth, six or perhaps more times ...,' I still had not realized how lucky one can be for this very reason... And by zero point, I mean finding oneself without a profession, a job, an income, and thus daily bread... constantly pondering: what now with the natural accompanying emotion of fear, apprehension and insecurity. -Roya Monajem, Tehran - 11/7/10

Iran's Grand Ayatollah Discusses Religion On Facebook A statement posted on the website of Ayatollah Bayat Zanjani, who has come under pressure from the Iranian authorities over his postelection stances, says the "unprecedented" online discussion took place on November 4 with a number of Internet users inside and outside of Iran. - 11/6/10

Rights Advocates Discuss the Future of Human Rights and Democracy in Iran Washington, D.C. - Human rights activists, scholars, journalists, and diplomats converged last week at the Roshan Center for Persian Studies at the University of Maryland to discuss the future of Iran's human rights movement, with keynote addresses from Nobel laureate Shirin Ebadi and NIAC advisory board member Ambassador John Limbert. - 11/6/10

Iranian student activist arrested in Mashhad According to the Human Rights Reporters Committee three armed officers in plain clothes arrested Gholizadeh at his father's home. Gholizadeh is one of the so called "starred" students who are deprived from continuing higher education by the order of the ministry of intelligence. - 11/6/10

Time for Obama to Call His Opponents' Bluff on IranWith Republicans now sharing the burden of governing in the next Congress, President Barack Obama has an opportunity to define the terms of the Iran debate instead of spending two more years capitulating to a Democratic Congress worried about appearing weak or out of sync with hardliners on the Iran issue. -Jamal Abdi, NIAC - 11/6/10

The "Islam" drumbeat: an Orwellian storyA reductive and tendentious portrayal of Islam and its followers is spreading across Europe and America. It is all too reminiscent of the chilling world imagined by George Orwell, says Arshin Adib-Moghaddam -Open Democracy - 11/6/10

Iran: Life of Jailed Human Rights Lawyer at Great Risk The United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights, Navi Pillay, should immediately intervene with Iranian authorities to ensure the physical well being of detained human rights lawyer Nasrin Sotoudeh, the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran said today - 11/5/10

Neuropsychology of Human Religious Behavior Throughout the history of psychology, the topic of human religiosity has been referred to as a learned behavior. In other words a person's religion is the final outcome of the person's interaction with his environment. Therefore the assumption is that if you are born in a Christian country, you are going to be a Christian. -Abbas Sadeghian - 11/5/10

Big-Power Diplomats Confer on Iran Nuclear Talks Senior diplomats of the five permanent U.N. Security Council member countries and Germany conferred by telephone Thursday on efforts to renew a nuclear dialogue with Iran later this month. Iran has been sending mixed signals about whether it will attend such a meeting. - 11/5/10

U.S. and Iran Prop Up Unconstitutional Gov in Iraq If you have a Sadr-Maliki deal of some kind, in some way brokered by Iran, where are the Americans in all this? 'Cause the Americans still seem to be supporting Maliki. And I guess a question I have is, if they actually preferred Allawi in the secular party, could they have done anything about it? Or is the US just focused on getting out? Or are they really focused on getting out, and do they actually have more long-term plans here? -Real News Network - 11/5/10

America Held Hostage: Year 62 - The Deconstruction Phase, Part I In the first paper, "America Held Hostage: Year 62", we saw the path that took over four decades for Israel to get to the final phase of a long process to put America in the bondage. All the previous phases set the stage for the final and the most critical phase of the process- The Deconstruction Phase. -Sina Alavi - 11/5/10

Iranian Textile Workers Demand Back Wages Some 750 textile workers have rallied in front of the governor's office in the northern Mazandaran Province to protest a 10-month delay in the payment of their salaries, RFE/RL's Radio Farda reports. - 11/5/10

U.S. Secretary of State's Terrorist Designation of Jundallah On November 3, 2010 the Secretary of State announced the designation of Jundallah, a violent extremist organization that operates primarily in the province of Sistan va Balochistan of Iran, as a Foreign Terrorist Organization (FTO) under Section 219 of the Immigration and Nationality Act, as amended (INA). - 11/5/10

Art Gallery: 1000 Ceramic Birds by Keyvan FehriUpcoming exhibition (Henna Art Gallery in Tehran) is about 1000 ceramic birds, all handmade by an emerging artist, Keyvan Fehri who is reflecting the Iranian society by and large. Keyvan Fehri won First Prize at the Fajr Visual Arts International Festival in 2010. - 11/4/10

Art Gallery - Archaic Techniques of Lovemaking by Shahriar AhmadiJoy of Life as a Counter Vision: The latest works by the Iranian artist Shahriar Ahmadi (AB Gallery Luzern, Switzerland) translate their current theme into his customary powerful images and, in doing so, display a growing tendency towards the figurative. - 11/4/10

Ebadi Calls on UN High Commissioner for Human Rights to Act The Iranian Judiciary should end its systematic targeting of human rights defenders and lawyers who are being sentenced to lengthy prison terms solely for their human rights work and defending their clients, Shirin Ebadi said today in a joint statement with the Iranian League for Defense of Human Rights (LDDHI) and the International Campaign for Human Rights in Iran. - 11/4/10

Like Fish In A Bowl Blogger "Maryam" is upset about censorship in the Islamic republic, including the blocking of her blog by authorities - 11/4/10

ROUND TRIP: A film by Golkou Parhizgar Round-trip by Iranian-British filmmaker, Golkou Parhizgar, is a documentary inspired by director's personal experience of returning to Iran after 11 years of living in the UK and rediscovering relationships of those left behind. - 11/4/10

Iran Tightens Security as Subsidy Cuts LoomIranian authorities are taking extraordinary security measures ahead of cuts to energy and food subsidies this month, in an effort to prevent unrest by a public upset about rising expenses and inflation -Farnaz Fassihi, WSJ - 11/4/10

US Designates Iranian group as terroristThe United States on Wednesday officially designated the Iranian opposition group Jundallah as a terrorist organization. The Sunni Muslim group is said to have been responsible for several lethal attacks in Iran in recent years, including bombings at Shi'ite mosques in the city of Zahedan. -David Gollust, VOA - 11/4/10

In Unusual Move, Iran's Revolutionary Guards Slam Ahmadinejad Over Comments In an unprecedented move, Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guards Corps (IRGC) has directly blasted President Mahmud Ahmadinejad over controversial comments he made recently, including saying that parliament is not on top of the country's affairs. Ahmadinejad was also criticized for promoting an "Iranian school of thought" instead of an Islamic one. -Golnaz Esfandiari, RFE - 11/3/10

Caspian Sea Is Dying Caspian Sea is dying and its littoral states (Russia, Iran, Azerbaijan, Turkmenistan and Kazakhstan) are not able to decide who owns what and what their responsibilities to the Caspian Sea, towards each other and the non-littoral states are. -Bahman Aghai Diba - 11/3/10

Inflation rises again in Iran, hits 9.2% According to the latest report by the Central Bank of Iran, the nation's inflation in the Iranian calendar month of Mehr (September 23 - October 22) stood at 9.2 percent. The inflation rate has risen this month to 9.2 percent from 8.9 percent last month. - 11/3/10

"Cyrus" production needs $70 million: Producer The producer of "Cyrus the Great" says that the production of the film may cost $70 million. "It is not a project that can be done easily," Ali Mo'allem told the Persian service of the Mehr News Agency on October 26. - 11/3/10

Commentary: Where Turkey Can Help Much has been made of Turkey's pretensions of being a regional, if not global, power. Given the Islamist roots of Turkey's ruling Justice and Development (AK) party, some are justifiably uneasy about the specter of Turkish power, and deride the AK's aspirations as a function of "neo-Ottoman" impulses. -James Kirchick, RFE - 11/3/10

Photos: Street Women in Tehran Warning bells are ringing about spread of AIDS due to unsafe sex practiced by the street women of Tehran. -Mohsen Rezaei, MNA - 11/2/10

Opera singer Evelyn Baghcheban: 1928-2010 Opera singer Evelyn Baghcheban, widow of Iranian composer Samin Baghcheban, died in Istanbul on Sunday October 31. She was 82. Samin Baghcheban died on the last day of winter 2008 in Turkey, where he had resided for many years. - 11/2/10

Iran: Leaked letter another evidence of fraud, coup A newly surfaced document released by Iranian satellite TV channel, RASA, has raised further questions about the legitimacy of Ahmadinejad's alleged "victory" during the 2009 presidential which Mousavi and Karroubi had described as nothing but an "engineered" and monumental fraud. - 11/2/10

Iranian judiciary reports on controversial cases The Prosecutor General referred to various cases from the lock down of the National Trust Party to the case of Saeed Mortazavi, the release of Ali Shakourirad, as well as the situation of the two American and the two German detainees. -Zamaneh - 11/2/10

Carter on Iranian Hostage Crisis: 'I Prayed More Than Any Time Else in My Life' Thirty years ago this week, Democratic President Jimmy Carter and Vice President Walter Mondale lost their reelection bid to Republican presidential candidate Ronald Reagan and his running mate George Herbert Walker Bush. Their defeat came at a time of rising unemployment, economic uncertainty and a hostage crisis in Iran that dragged on for 444 days. -VOA - 11/2/10

Journalist Challenges "Strange Sentence" by Iranian Judiciary In an open letter to Tehran's prosecutor, Jila Bani-Yaghoub, Iranian journalist who was recently sentenced to one year in prison and 30 years ban from journalism, lists the irregularities in her sentencing and urges him to review her case. - 11/2/10

Urmia Lake facing environmental crisis Urmia Lake, which is registered as a Biosphere Reserve by UNESCO, will be dried up within three years, announced a local official in the Environmental Protection Organization in West Azarbaijan. - 11/1/10

Rare Persian leopard born in Dutch zoo A rare Persian Leopard, which is currently on the endangered species list of the International Union for Conservation of Nature, was born in Amersfoort Zoo in the Netherlands. -Pejman Akbarzadeh - 11/1/10

Iranian opposition leaders meet despite government resistanceSaham News reports that this morning Mehdi Karroubi intended to visit Mir Hossein Mousavi at his home but was faced with the resistance of the local security forces. The report goes on to add that Karroubi finally managed to overcome the resistance with the assistance of Mir Hossein Mousavi and to visit his peer at his home. -Zamaneh - 11/1/10

Iran reinstates Karroubi's National Trust Party Deputy Secretary General of National Trust Party, Hojjatoleslam Rasoul Montakabnia announced that their office is no longer sealed and the party has been allowed to resume its political activities. -Zamaneh - 11/1/10

Iran retains world body-building championship title Iran maintained the title of the World Body-Building Championship on Monday. The Persians claimed the title of the 2nd Men's World Body-Building Championship which held in Varanasi, India from October 28 to November 1. -MNA - 11/1/10